Ace fashion designer Maheen Khan has announced that she will be returning her Lux Style Awards following the recent controversy. The 21st edition of the LSAs was recently held in Lahore, with a handful of celebrities showing up for the once-famous event.
Feroze Khan’s nomination and subsequent win caused an outrage on social media where many called out the organisers for ‘enabling’ an alleged abuser whilst making a mockery of domestic violence. Many voiced disapproval of Feroze’s inclusion this year while others stood in solidarity with the victims.
Maheen took to social media and shared that she will ‘no longer associate herself with an event that disregards the plight of abused women.’
“In a world where one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual assault, where rape and domestic abuse remains unaddressed, it is imperative that those who have a voice must use it,” the designer wrote on an Instagram post. “Physical abuse against women and girls is a human rights violation. Today it is someone’s daughter, tomorrow it might be yours.”
She went on to comment, “While so many of us have raised our voices against the deaths of Zainab, Noor and others,
the disregard and insensitivity of a recent award show is a travesty. In all conscience, I can no longer associate myself with an event that disregards their plight.”
Maheen further revealed that she will be returning my Lux Style Awards “in solidarity with those who continue to suffer the infringement of their basic human right to live free from violence.” She further lamented, “It is a sad day as I had such hopes for the Lux style Award show to be not just a champion of style but a platform that nurtured justice for women and stood out as a proud beacon of hope for every child and woman who has been violated.”
Earlier, Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy announced that she would be returning her Lux Lifetime Achievement Award, which she received from the platform back in 2012, in protest.
Taking to her Instagram Stories on same day, the Saving Face director pointed out, “Lux is a beauty brand that sells soaps to women yet it has chosen to allow the nomination of a man known to have violently abused his ex-wife. Its parent company, Unilever, has a global campaign that says no to domestic violence and advocates against it. The company signed up to the United Nation’s SDGs, including SDG 5 on gender equality,” she wrote, noting that Unilever’s offices in Pakistan do not seem to share the same values.”
